Gun leading to dad’s arrest was a toy

KITCHENER — A plastic toy gun is to blame for the mayhem that saw a man arrested at his daughter’s school this week.

It was found in the home of the Kitchener father of four after he was arrested over a drawing his daughter drew at the school on Wednesday. Jessie Sansone was strip-searched but not charged.

Sansone’s four-year-old daughter Neaveh had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun and said it was her daddy, triggering fears that the family home contained a weapon that was a threat to the children.

The school board, police and child welfare officials all say proper procedure was followed in the case.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Gregg Bereznick, the Waterloo Region District School Board’s superintendent of education.

Neaveh’s teacher at Forest Hill Public School was concerned by the drawing and called Family and Children’s Services, who assessed the case and called police. After being interviewed by police at the school, Sansone was handcuffed and taken to the police station in a cruiser.

There, Sansone said, he was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Sansone’s wife, Stephanie Squires, was also taken to the police station.

Three of the children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed.

Based on interviews with the children and school staff, regional police believed there was a real gun in the family home and the children were in danger.

Investigators told Insp. Kevin Thaler they were convinced there was a threat based on the “jaw-dropping” accuracy of the description of a semi-automatic gun.

After more interviews, police determined the weapon was likely a toy gun. After Sansone was released, he allowed police to search his home.

A partly transparent, plastic gun was eventually located. Stephanie Squires said the gun shoots small plastic pellets that look like “tiny purple candy gum balls.” However, there were never any pellets in the home. The gun had been left behind by her brother, who used to live with the family.

Thaler said investigators never saw the drawing that sparked the investigation. Sansone has not seen it. Bereznick won’t acknowledge a drawing exists. Alison Scott, the executive director of Family and Children’s Services, says the agency may or may not have a copy of the child’s drawing.

On Friday, Sansone’s wife Stephanie Squires held the toy in her hand.

“You can see springs in it and everything,” said Squires, who is five months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. “You can totally see it’s not a real gun.”

But Sansone says he is feeling real consequences of being arrested. The 26-year-old life issues counsellor for the Kitchener-based Sobriety Center was taken from the school in a police car.

“My family has been tarnished. My name has been tarnished,” Sansone said on Friday. “My children aren’t even going back to that school again.”

Sansone is scheduled to speak to 700 high school students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge next month on the issues of drugs, violence and anti-bullying.

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

After Wednesday’s events, he talked to a lawyer. He says he feels justified in going public to “exploit” this incident.

“Because I was exploited,” he said. “Every pedestrian who drove by that school and saw me being escorted and put in to the car, I want them to know what’s going on. Everybody from the principal to the crossing guard, I want them to know what happened.”

Sansone said the school principal, Steve Zack, called him to apologize for the incident. Zack could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Sansone says he is looking at moving his school-age children to nearby Trillium Public School.

On Friday Squires used the toy gun, which investigators left behind, to hammer some nails. She figures she’ll throw it away.

“It caused all this nonsense,” Squires said. “I don’t even want it in the house anymore.”

Gun leading to dad’s arrest was a toy

KITCHENER — A plastic toy gun is to blame for the mayhem that saw a man arrested at his daughter’s school this week.

It was found in the home of the Kitchener father of four after he was arrested over a drawing his daughter drew at the school on Wednesday. Jessie Sansone was strip-searched but not charged.

Sansone’s four-year-old daughter Neaveh had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun and said it was her daddy, triggering fears that the family home contained a weapon that was a threat to the children.

The school board, police and child welfare officials all say proper procedure was followed in the case.

Related Content

“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Gregg Bereznick, the Waterloo Region District School Board’s superintendent of education.

Neaveh’s teacher at Forest Hill Public School was concerned by the drawing and called Family and Children’s Services, who assessed the case and called police. After being interviewed by police at the school, Sansone was handcuffed and taken to the police station in a cruiser.

There, Sansone said, he was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Sansone’s wife, Stephanie Squires, was also taken to the police station.

Three of the children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed.

Based on interviews with the children and school staff, regional police believed there was a real gun in the family home and the children were in danger.

Investigators told Insp. Kevin Thaler they were convinced there was a threat based on the “jaw-dropping” accuracy of the description of a semi-automatic gun.

After more interviews, police determined the weapon was likely a toy gun. After Sansone was released, he allowed police to search his home.

A partly transparent, plastic gun was eventually located. Stephanie Squires said the gun shoots small plastic pellets that look like “tiny purple candy gum balls.” However, there were never any pellets in the home. The gun had been left behind by her brother, who used to live with the family.

Thaler said investigators never saw the drawing that sparked the investigation. Sansone has not seen it. Bereznick won’t acknowledge a drawing exists. Alison Scott, the executive director of Family and Children’s Services, says the agency may or may not have a copy of the child’s drawing.

On Friday, Sansone’s wife Stephanie Squires held the toy in her hand.

“You can see springs in it and everything,” said Squires, who is five months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. “You can totally see it’s not a real gun.”

But Sansone says he is feeling real consequences of being arrested. The 26-year-old life issues counsellor for the Kitchener-based Sobriety Center was taken from the school in a police car.

“My family has been tarnished. My name has been tarnished,” Sansone said on Friday. “My children aren’t even going back to that school again.”

Sansone is scheduled to speak to 700 high school students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge next month on the issues of drugs, violence and anti-bullying.

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

After Wednesday’s events, he talked to a lawyer. He says he feels justified in going public to “exploit” this incident.

“Because I was exploited,” he said. “Every pedestrian who drove by that school and saw me being escorted and put in to the car, I want them to know what’s going on. Everybody from the principal to the crossing guard, I want them to know what happened.”

Sansone said the school principal, Steve Zack, called him to apologize for the incident. Zack could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Sansone says he is looking at moving his school-age children to nearby Trillium Public School.

On Friday Squires used the toy gun, which investigators left behind, to hammer some nails. She figures she’ll throw it away.

“It caused all this nonsense,” Squires said. “I don’t even want it in the house anymore.”

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Gun leading to dad’s arrest was a toy

KITCHENER — A plastic toy gun is to blame for the mayhem that saw a man arrested at his daughter’s school this week.

It was found in the home of the Kitchener father of four after he was arrested over a drawing his daughter drew at the school on Wednesday. Jessie Sansone was strip-searched but not charged.

Sansone’s four-year-old daughter Neaveh had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun and said it was her daddy, triggering fears that the family home contained a weapon that was a threat to the children.

The school board, police and child welfare officials all say proper procedure was followed in the case.

Related Content

“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Gregg Bereznick, the Waterloo Region District School Board’s superintendent of education.

Neaveh’s teacher at Forest Hill Public School was concerned by the drawing and called Family and Children’s Services, who assessed the case and called police. After being interviewed by police at the school, Sansone was handcuffed and taken to the police station in a cruiser.

There, Sansone said, he was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Sansone’s wife, Stephanie Squires, was also taken to the police station.

Three of the children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed.

Based on interviews with the children and school staff, regional police believed there was a real gun in the family home and the children were in danger.

Investigators told Insp. Kevin Thaler they were convinced there was a threat based on the “jaw-dropping” accuracy of the description of a semi-automatic gun.

After more interviews, police determined the weapon was likely a toy gun. After Sansone was released, he allowed police to search his home.

A partly transparent, plastic gun was eventually located. Stephanie Squires said the gun shoots small plastic pellets that look like “tiny purple candy gum balls.” However, there were never any pellets in the home. The gun had been left behind by her brother, who used to live with the family.

Thaler said investigators never saw the drawing that sparked the investigation. Sansone has not seen it. Bereznick won’t acknowledge a drawing exists. Alison Scott, the executive director of Family and Children’s Services, says the agency may or may not have a copy of the child’s drawing.

On Friday, Sansone’s wife Stephanie Squires held the toy in her hand.

“You can see springs in it and everything,” said Squires, who is five months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. “You can totally see it’s not a real gun.”

But Sansone says he is feeling real consequences of being arrested. The 26-year-old life issues counsellor for the Kitchener-based Sobriety Center was taken from the school in a police car.

“My family has been tarnished. My name has been tarnished,” Sansone said on Friday. “My children aren’t even going back to that school again.”

Sansone is scheduled to speak to 700 high school students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Cambridge next month on the issues of drugs, violence and anti-bullying.

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

After Wednesday’s events, he talked to a lawyer. He says he feels justified in going public to “exploit” this incident.

“Because I was exploited,” he said. “Every pedestrian who drove by that school and saw me being escorted and put in to the car, I want them to know what’s going on. Everybody from the principal to the crossing guard, I want them to know what happened.”

Sansone said the school principal, Steve Zack, called him to apologize for the incident. Zack could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Sansone says he is looking at moving his school-age children to nearby Trillium Public School.

On Friday Squires used the toy gun, which investigators left behind, to hammer some nails. She figures she’ll throw it away.

“It caused all this nonsense,” Squires said. “I don’t even want it in the house anymore.”